A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to housing construction, and more particularly, to a form of housing which may be economically produced in modular units of tubular form. The tubes may be stacked on top of each other to form a complex of housing units which may provide low cost housing for a large number of individuals. Each housing unit has the outer walls, floor, ceiling and interior walls entirely precast and is a self-supporting shell which requires no special foundation. Also, each housing unit has chambers for storage of water and for disposal of sewage.
In addition to the units being stacked one on top of another, they may also be arranged in columns for even larger capacity housing projects. Arranged at the end of the stacked rows of units are towers with staircases for access to the units. These towers may also provide a source of water along with means for disposing of sewage.
B. Description of the Prior Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,954, there is disclosed a modular building system which utilizes box-shaped modular units adapted for interconnected assembly and placed in a stacked position. The stacked units are not integrally cast but rather are assembled from a complex of structural members and beams. Also, the units are disclosed as being column supported which requires that upright vertical members must be employed adjacent to each of the stacked units in order for the units to be structurally supported.
Another U.S. Pat. No. of relevance is 3,730,796, which sets forth a method of manufacture for portable housing structures in which a substantially rectangular forming device is produced on a collapsible rotatable mold to construct a shell which forms the outer periphery of a tubular structure. However, there is no disclosure of forming a ceiling or floor integrally with the tubular structure, this patent being directed to forming a structure by means of a rotational method. The integral formation of a ceiling and floor independent of the outer periphery would therefore be impossible. This patent also discloses that the units formed by the rotational method may be arranged one on top of another if required, or adjacent to each other, or in an end-to-end formation. However, there is no disclosure of a means or method for securing the units to each other so that they will not slide off one another.
A multi-level modular building employing tower cores which support plexi-glass or aluminum units is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,388,512. The units are of generally elliptical cross-section and are arranged in a vertically rising configuration on top of hollow core members which include elevators, stairs, ducts and utilities. There is no disclosure in this patent of the modular units being self-supported or being placed directly upon the ground.
Prefabricated elements of molded material employed in the construction of dwellings are set forth and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,370. Here again, however, the individual units are arranged in a stacked relationship but are not stacked one on top of another. Rather, the units are supported in a vertically rising configuration by means of a plurality of supporting pillars.